Main menu

Search form

Peripheral Neuropathies

For axons and Schwann cells, communication is the key to a healthy relationship. Axons send chemical messages that attract Schwann cells and encourage myelin formation, and Schwann cells appear to send messages that nourish and protect axons. The various genetic defects that cause CMT often disrupt these interactions.

The many different types of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) are distinguished by age of onset, inheritance pattern, severity, and whether they're linked to defects in axon or myelin.

Researchers at the Psychology of Disability Lab at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor are exploring the social identity of people with disabilities through a short, anonymous, Web-based questionnaire.

(Update 9/14/11: The 2011 scholarship winners have been selected. To view a list of winners visit www.deshae.org/cmms/awards/2011/scholars.pdf. Applications for quality of life grants continue to be accepted and are awarded on an ongoing basis.)

A two-year, large-scale trial of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in people with type 1A Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT1A) conducted in Italy and the United Kingdom has found the substance had no significant effect on the disease compared with a placebo. Ascorbic acid was taken orally at 1.5 grams per day in this study. An ongoing U.S.-based trial (now closed to recruitment) is testing ascorbic acid in CMT1A at a dosage of 4 grams per day for two years.

Moving therapeutic strategies from the laboratory to clinical trials and ultimately to the market as treatments was the theme of the MDA National Scientific Conference held March 13-16, 2011, in Las Vegas.

Some 300 people attended the conference, the first in a planned series of such MDA-sponsored meetings that will emphasize new research and current medical care. The majority of presenters and many of the audience members were current or former MDA research grantees or physicians at MDA-supported clinics.